Mark 2:18-20 commentary: the bridegroom

18 ¶ And the disciples of John and of the Pharisees used to fast: and they come and say unto him, Why do the disciples of John and of the Pharisees fast, but thy disciples fast not? 19 And Jesus said unto them, Can the children of the bridechamber fast, while the bridegroom is with them? as long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. 20 But the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then shall they fast in those days.

Here comes a division in the Bible. The children of the bridechamber are not the bride.The church is the bride of Christ (2 Corinthians 11:2; Ephesians 5:23-32.) Christ, the bridegroom is going to leave.

John 3:29 He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled.

John the Baptist is the friend of the bridegroom. There are many divisions of people in the Bible that are worthy of study.

Song of Solomon 6:8 There are threescore queens, and fourscore concubines, and virgins without number.

Don’t ask me. I don’t have a clue who the queens are or the concubines. I do know who the virgins are, Jews in the tribulation (Revelations 14:4), from the text, but I haven’t been given any light on the others.

Fasting is for Christians, but has nothing to do with salvation.

2 Corinthians 6:4 But in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses, 5 In stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labours, in watchings, in fastings;

2Corinthians 11:27 In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.

Fasting fights against the flesh and afflicts the soul. But, don’t let it become a matter of worshipping your own will. The Christian starts out in self worship using pleasure, moves into worship of Christ, and if he goes far enough will wander into self worship again by his asceticism and separation. Worshipping God genuinely, in the Spirit, is a narrow thing that requires turning neither to the left or right. The libertine, carnal Christian, or unsaved person, seeks to serve his or her own flesh in life and worship with worldly and fleshy music, while the separated fundamentalist often seeks to serve his or her own flesh by pride and denial, to prove how close to Christ they are. Both are self serving and deluded. Be warned.